0.9.10 Information and News

The public weekend went really well. We saw 55,000 different accounts try the game and received a huge amount of useful feedback. Two server stability issues were discovered, which we're working on fixes for. We have high hopes for being able to withstand an onslaught of players when the Open Beta starts.

The 0.9.10 patch is almost ready, and contains (among dozens of other changes) the following major features:

• At least five new player-designed Unique items.
• Increased the difficulty of Cruel, Ruthless and Merciless by adjusting monster damage and pack sizes.
• If you want to compare an item to one you have equipped, press Alt while hovering over the item and it will display your equipped one for comparison.
• You can now make your party public by giving it a name on the party screen. Players can browse public parties associated with a town by clicking the Notice Board in town or by using the social screen. For example, if you need help with Merveil, you might name your party "Help with Merveil". Players then see it on the list and join it to help you out. You can make it private again or rename it if your situation changes.
• Short-duration timed loot allocation (see this old thread for our thoughts on it). In multiplayer instances, certain items (magic, rare, unique, currency and gems) are now allocated to a random nearby player for a short duration, during which time only that player may pick them up. This duration is increased by the time it would take the player to run to the item. Note that the allocation time is short enough that players must still pay close attention to what items drop in combat and to take them immediately if they want them.

Here's a picture of the (work in progress!) new town layout that includes the notice board used for public parties. You'll notice we've moved the stash away from the door.

We're expecting to deploy 0.9.10 late next week, but that might change if other large features are ready in time and can be included.

It's (tentatively) looking like the 0.9.11 patch will contain the Act Two Boss and our new end-game. More information will be available once that is closer to release.

In the near future we'll begin teasing images of Act Three.

We will also announce a more-firm date for the start of Open Beta. It's very likely that this will not fall in June, which was the last public estimate we stated. We have a list of must-have features (Trade, Arena PvP, etc) that we'd love to include.

Thanks again for your patience and support as we finish the game. We have a lot of exciting stuff lined up for the next few months and I can't wait to let you guys try it out :)